Bob Hoskins, who gained fame in such diverse movies as The Long Good Friday, Sweet Liberty, Mona Lisa, and Who Framed Roger Rabbit, will return to the London stage this autumn in the play Old Wicked Songs.

Bob Hoskins, who gained fame in such diverse movies as The Long Good Friday, Sweet Liberty, Mona Lisa, and Who Framed Roger Rabbit, will return to the London stage this autumn in the play Old Wicked Songs.

Jon Marans' 1995 play was produced off-Broadway by The Barrow Group but didn't receive much attention until it was named a finalist for the 1996 Pulitzer Prize for Drama (the award went to Jonathan Larson's Rent). The play is now set for two high profile productions in London and New York.

According to co-producer Daryl Roth, the London production starring Hoskins is tentatively scheduled for a run at the Bristol Old Vic beginning in mid-October with a West End transfer expected in mid-November. No theater has yet been booked for the transfer.

Directing in London will be Elijah Moshinsky, whose credits include the recent Robert Lindsay Cyrano de Bergerac as well as extensive opera productions.

Wicked is about the relationship between an American piano virtuoso and his Viennese music professor. Hoskins' role as the feisty teacher will mark his first stage appearance since playing Nathan Detroit in Richard Eyre's celebrated production of Guys and Dolls at the Royal National Theatre. The role of the student has not been cast yet, Roth stated. Meanwhile, on the other side of the Atlantic, the Off-Broadway production of Wicked, starring Hal Robinson and Justin Kirk, is being readied for previews beginning August 16 at the Promenade, with an opening set for September 5.